Hawk

I am a scorner of the earth—
Where life is a handful of grains.

My nature, like a hermit’s,
Loves wild solitude.

No breeze for me, no nightingale;
No song of love,. no song in the air.

I wing away from gardens,
Embowered with flowers enticing.

In wilderness the winds
Sharpen my ethereal flight.

I hunger not for birds of prey;
Mine is an austere life.

O East and west are for petty birds;
Mine is the world of boundless skies.

I stoop not to make a nest;
I am a dervish among the birds.

IQBAL encouraging a human that take yourself to the height of glories and do those act, which your GOD wants you to do and when you get such a high standard that you  become a high standard that you become the friend of god then your god will ask you what you want to do for you. Iqbal is giving fascinating idea power of human.

Iqbal relates HAWK with human. Iqbal said hawk who never tired while flying in the  air that make your standing on the peak of mountain and never feel tired and keeping on struggle so that one time you will reach to your  destiny Iqbal  said hawk never feel tired in the air and if a human develop a power like that he will.never sacred of difficulties and hurdles on his journey  of glory .IQBAL is saying when start  do not look at your reward.keep focusing on your purpose of life when he selects hawk because of its courage great  youth self reliance superb aerial  skills and spectacle in his poetry hawk stands for courage and character devotion and dedication struggle and endurance prestige and self control.qbal could have used the symbol of a Tiger or Leopard or Lion or some other ‘fast and furious’ animal when he addressed the Muslim youth., but  In his poetry hawk stands for courage and self-respect, purity of soul and character,

The need for change in hawk’s life and its outstanding ability to transform according to the needs of time and its age is really interesting. The hawk has one of longest life-spans amongest the birds. It can live up to 70 years, but to make it to the 70’s, it needs to make a hard decision. During its 40’s, its long and flexible talons can no longer grab prey which serve as food to it. Its long and sharp beak becomes bent. Its old thick feathers stuck to its chest and become a hurdle to fly freely and catch its prey on ground. The mighty ea, whit hawk  once hunted its prey with its sharp sight and aerodynamic dive, now is left with only one option. i.e. to adapt a change.

The period of transformation required by the old hawk to regain its hunting capability is painful for it. It usually makes its nest on top of a mountain and realizes the need to change; THE NEED TO TRANSFORM, THE NEED FOR ITS SURVIVAL. Once it has realized the need, it starts the painful process which includes knocking its beak on solid rocks, plucking its talons and waiting for the new talons to grow, and plucking its thick aged feathers stuck to its chest.

Only after the transformation process is complete, it can fly again and hunt its prey with the same vigor it used to.

Only after knowing this capability of the hawk I realized why Iqbal had preferred it over other animals with similar traits. The apathetic Muslims of sub-continent in particular, and the Muslim nation in general needed a change. They needed to adapt to the requirements of the new age, they had to realize the NEED for change, only after such realization had they been able to transform and live the change necessary for their survival. Yes, change could not be brought overnight; it took Iqbal and other great leaders of the Pakistan movement years to make the lazy nation realize how important it is for them to change. Like an hawk in its 40’s has to go through a painful process and sacrifice, the Muslims needed to realize their own impotence and rise above their differences, to unite for a common cause; the need of the hour.

Once again, after the re-birth of the new nation, after 62 years of pain, suffering, bloodshed, injustice, cruelty, ignorance, short-sightedness, preferring foreign agendas over internal peace and personal lust of power of some ignorant rulers and dictators, the hawk yearns for a change.

 by transforming process is completed it can fly again and hunt it prey Iqbal said that muslim nation need change.Iqbal realize lazy nation how hawk  in its 40 has to go through a painful process and sacrifice .just like hawk our nation have to need of change.